Patent · US Active

Virtual machines in a packet switching device

US9185030B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
0References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 19, 2011
Grant dateNov 10, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 7, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L45/60
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In one embodiment, a packet switching device creates multiple virtual packet switching devices within the same physical packet switching device using virtual machines and sharing particular physical resources of the packet switching device. One embodiment uses this functionality to change the operating version (e.g., upgrade or downgrade) of the packet switching device by originally operating according to a first operating version, operating according to both a first and second operating version, and then ceasing operating according to the first operating version. Using such a technique, a packet switching device can be upgraded or downgraded while fully operating (e.g., without having to reboot line cards and route processing engines).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.